Thursday, July 15, 2010

Mack is 108 weeks old today. (And still walks around carrying not 1, but 2 Social Tea Cookies). (Doesn’t eat them. Just carries them around).

This is the tutorial I used to make these shorts. They were intended for Sean, but he couldn’t get them over his bum. However, Mack fit into them perfectly and wore them all day.

They’re so cute on him. Pat myself on the back. I’ve promised Sean I’d make him another pair.

Here is the progress on Bekah’s Girl Cap Sleeved Spring Shirt. Just a bit more knitting to do on the body and it’ll be done. This is such an easy knit. I’ve got to make one for Zoe as well. Super easy. I love that it’s made in numerous sizes from 3T-10.

Not sure if this is really a 3T-5T however. You see, underneath is Sean’s (tight fitting) 3T swim shirt. The knitted garment is a touch smaller than a 3T FITTED garment. Hmmm. I am going to use this swim shirt as a guide for length, because in the pattern it just says to “knit to desired length” and well, I don’t have the person it’s for here, to try it on. It’s a gift for my friend’s daughter, and they live near Philly. I am curious to know what actual size it is though. Once I am finished the length I’ll try it on both Sean & Mack for sizing. Or I’ll borrow one of my friend’s daughter. I’ll figure it out. Great pattern though. I’m loving it.

Day 5’s De-clutter progress here. I was on a roll today! Still working on de-cluttering the office! (Eventually onto the rest of the house!) 2011 items seem soooo many. I hope I can do it. Speaking of de-cluttering, does mental clutter count too? I’ve been on a roll weeding a bunch of unnecessary people out of my life lately.

I am so done with other people’s stupidities and immaturities and I am so annoyed with people trying to comment on what I am doing, and that it either “doesn’t work that way” and that they know better because they have a child a couple of months older than mine, for example. Just because you have a child a few months older than mine, (and you are younger or older than me) doesn’t make you an expert. What may work for you, may not work for me and my situation and my family. I wish some people would just keep their comments to themselves. I really am grateful for the close friends that I have, and over the last couple of months I’ve really been weeding out the unnecessary people in my life. There’s been a lot of them too. People who just were dragging me down. Life shouldn’t be like that. So I’ve moved on. I think that should count as emotional clutter, getting de-cluttered (part of my challenge?! Could it include that too?) I’ve come to just let things not bother me anymore. I used to care. I don’t anymore. (Don’t worry, I still care for those that are important to me. But to people who aren’t important, no sweat off my back anymore. Life is WAY too short to have that bother or affect me).

I’ve also started to back off from some people who I felt I had a one sided friendship with. Even though I like these friends as people, why bother with them if I feel like I am putting all the work into the friendship? I try to make plans, I invite them & their children to my kids birthday parties and stuff, but never do they try to invite me to do stuff or invite my kids to their celebrations. That also – is stuff that I don’t have time to deal with anymore. I really only have so much free/extra time in my life, and I don’t want to waste any more of my precious time when these people just don’t give any time back. I’m done. Moving on. There are better people in my life to focus on. Amen!

Ok, I feel better now. No longer have to think about this. Wanted to get it off my chest, and move on. There really should be a emotional de-clutter in my challenge too. Right?

I’ll leave you tonight with some garden updates:

Any plant that grows upwards, (like zucchini, cucumber, etc…) their plant will curl and the curls will grab onto things (like walls or cables or fences, etc). I absolutely love these curls. They’re so pretty. This one is from one of my cucumber plants.

We have one HUGE tomato that is almost ready to eat. Still has a bit of red to color. The production of tomatoes hasn’t been as quickly as we’d have liked, but we do have some promising tomato plants. We think we’ll be over flowing with tomatoes probably mid-August.

Right now in season are our snow peas. They’re everywhere. And they’re SO good. I’ve been eating them raw. I think tomorrow night we’ll try them steamed with dinner. Yum!

We have 2 spaghetti squashes that are about the same size. This is one of them. I need to do research to find out when they are ready for picking. It’s our first time ever growing spaghetti squash.

Today’s loot. Zucchini (pictured last from tomatoes (3 cucumbers in between)) become muffins tonight. Cucumbers were eaten at dinner time. Lettuce became Caesar salad for dinner too. I used this recipe to make some zucchini muffins. Definitely a unique recipe. I’ll let you know how they turned out. They’re sitting on the cooling rack right now. Fresh out of the oven. If they’re good, I’ll link the recipe again tomorrow. Stay tuned to find out if they’re tasty or not.

On the potty training front, Sean only had 1 accident today at school (while he was napping), and 1 accident at home (during dinner - he was drinking his (watered down) juice way too fast). I think he's been doing excellently. I am trying to figure out what to reward him with this weekend for an excellent week.

10 comments:

Hi there Knit & Purl Mama, Isn't it amazing how people tell you the right way the raise children! I have two boys myself 16 & 13yrs and the unwanted advise given to me all these years........I just did my own thing. Enjoy your knitting and being a Mum. Kind regards, Anita.

If you have an overload of zucchini, there's a great recipe for double chocolate muffins on www.101cookbooks.com! You can barely taste the zucchini, it just makes them super moist. Great alternative to cupcakes.

You should DEFINITELY count the things that you get rid of in terms of emotional clutter! That is just as draining as physical clutter, and to come to a decision to get rid of those things are just as valid of an item. Make a new category! All I can say is GOOD FOR YOU! You are inspiring me to keep track of what I get rid of, too.

Love Mack's shorts! I keep meaning to sew some shorts for Beah, but I keep procrastinating. When I knit the cap-sleeved shirt for Beah, it was coming out a bit snugg too, so I randomly added some stitches along the sides every few rows, and it wasn't too bad.

Love the curly plant. The shorts turned out great. I guess someone must have a small child if they were meant for Sean and fit Mack instead. The sweater looks good if small. Hopefully the baby/toddler receiving it is either small or younger then that size. I love the color of it.

dude, I agree whole-heartedly with de-cluttering your home AND your brain/heart. However, if I might make one teensy-beensy suggestion? It might be helpful to you AND certain "friends" if you'd mention your frustrations with them directly, and that way they can adjust and/or explain their behaviour accordingly. (You probably already did that though, you're a smart cookie!).

Sean is doing good so far, obviously there is going to be a few accidents. Yeah for Sean!

Uh oh, who was making comments about the way you are parenting [the comment you refer to someone with a child older then yours?] Obviously each child is different, and parenting should be different per household! What works for you probably does not work for other people, and vice versa! Silly people!

Progress looks great on the sleeved spring shirt! And love those shorts!

the cupcakes sound interesting. basil! ooh, there's a chocolate zucchini loaf bread out there too if you're interested. :) you know your whole decluttering of your life should definitely include emotional clutter. i mean, yes getting rid of material things feels good but getting rid of baggage that just drags you down is 10 times better. i can't believe someone is trying to tell you how to parent your own children. who the heck do they think they are??

About Me

I am a 30-something mom who knits, and takes pictures, a lot. I am a mother to 3 adorable boys, Sean (Dec 2006), Mackenzie (June 2008) & Quentin (Nov 2010). This is my journey through motherhood, photography, the books I read, life in general and knitting, of course. Oh, and other crafts too!